Wheelbarrow.



H. w. MONTGOMERY. WHEELBARRQW. APPLICATION man seTJ-zs, 19u.

Patented Apr. 8, 1919.

:Hman WMONTGOMERY, or ToPnNeA, ontrroitnm.y

wnnnneniinew.-

.y Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 8, 19191 Application filed September 26, 1917. Serial No. 193,616.

To @ZZ @7i/0m #may concern: y

Be it known that I', IIinAM IV. MONTGOM- nnr, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Topanga, in the `county of'Los Angeles and State of California, have invented a new and useful VVheelbarrow, of whichl the following is a specication.

This invention relates to that type of wheelbarrow in which the operator carries a part of the load, and an object of this invention is to provide la wheelbarrow ofl this type in which the labor the wheelbarrow is minimized.

The reason of the great labor involved inn pushing a wheelbarrow over obstacles, rough ground and the like, arisesl from the fact that when the wheel of af forwardly progressing wheelbarrow strikes upon an ob-` stacle over which the wheel must travel, the

momentum of the load on the wh'eelbarrow isv practically absorbed kin lifting` the load over the obstacle, and an object of this in` vention is to avoid this absorption of the power stored up in` the'momentumfofthe load, and to apply ainaXimum increment of said momentum toward the forward'progresl sion of the barrow and to pass'the 'obstacle' without lifting the load.

This vnew wheelbarrow is providedyb'e tween the axle of its supporting wheel and the frame of the wheelbarrow with fay resilie'nt supporting means of greatamplitude of movement, `capable of supporting the load that rests upon the wheel and allowing `nnder full load `during forward travel of they rwheel an amplitude of wheel movement relajtive to said load,suiiiciently great to surmount considerable obstructions without correspondingly elevating the load.

In practice, I iind' that with thi-shewVL wheelbarrow, the ease with which a load isV propelled over obstacles is greatly increased,v

and it becomes possible for an operator tov propel a wheelbarrowjover plowed groundV with a load that would be prohibitive with any of the old forms'of wheelbarrow.

'A feature of the inventionconsistsin sup- 7 porting the front end ofthe framebya pair Y of long` helical springs made of light spring steel wire about inch diameter. more oi' less` depending upon the weight of the average load for which the barrow is intended.

In constructing a wheelbarrow of the'garden wheelbarrowfforin I employtwog;i inch steel wire helical compression springs about 4:3, inches long and inch diameter, so that of Apropelling invention.y

'row frame.

may rise lover ran obstacle a out 2 inches high without materially lifting the load. i

Further objects of the invention are cheap ness, simplicity and ease of construction by ordinary mechanics frominaterial easily ob` tained.v

Further objects, advantages and features y of novelty may appearfrom'l the accompanythe wheel onwhich the spring is supported ing drawings, the subjoined detail descripn tiony andthe appended claims.

Theaccompanying drawingillustrates the invention in an approved form. ,v

' Figurel is a side 'elevation of .a wheelbarrowconstructed in accordance with this Fig. 2" is a n Fig. 3 is a front endelevationyof' said wheelbarrow.

Fig. 4 is a sectional elevation online 1:-44,

Fig. 2, thegrim ofthe wheel being indicated by a dotted line. o Y y Y y Fig. 5 is affragmental sectional elevation on line 965-0125, Figs. 1y and 4.

The Wheelbarrow body comprises? frame having rearwardly dii'ferging sidebars Iterminating at vthe rear in handles 2'project1ng from the rear end of the frame, legs 3 eX- tendlngdown from the rear end, barrow below `the `frame and stay rods A8 spaced ,apart u,from the headv board 5 at each end thereofjto provide sockets 9 to receive the vfront endsfo'fside boards 10, which arev of vthe customary construction, provided with the cleats 11 terminating in tenons 12 that are inserted in the seats 13 on the wheelbar- There ar/e'twoy of the brackets 4 as shdwn in the drawing and the same are'attached through their faces above their bottomedges to the forward I extensions 14 of the side bars, whichat the rear endsform the handles 2,- and fintermediate'ly form the iioori supports as inthe usual manner' of construct-ing this portion of a wheelbarrow framefthere being Vframe cross bars 15, 16 fra/med in the side bars land tightly7 clamped between said 7' side bars by stay bolts 17,18, that extend through from outside to outside of the side -bar's l, the nuts thereof being tightly vscrewed lio`me, frhus` making the frame perfectly rigid.

plan ofthe :wheelbarrow .shown i @bracket textending up and down across the Vside bars at the front, a front board 5, head ylbar 6 above the brackets 4 a bottom .bar 7 The forward brackets 4 are respectively provided with sockets consisting of an upper socket 19 and a lower slot 20 in the former of which spring means 21 are seated to support the front end of the wheelbarrow body, the spring means 21 bein mounted on journal boxes 22 which are he d in position relative to the spring by the follower stud 23. Said boxes 22 rest upon axle ends 24 that in turn are wheel supported.

The springs 21 are light helical springs of considerable amplitude o f movement; so that the journal boxes 22 may rise and fall a sufficient distance to accommodate the rise of the wheel over slighter obstructions which may be in the way of the wheel in the ordinary practical use of the wheelbarrow. The

slot 2O of the spring seat opens toward the longitudinal vertical mid-plane of the wheelbarrow body, and washers 2G are interposed between the hub ends and the brackets 4.

The washers are of considerable diameter, being of greater diameter than the hub 27 of. the wheel so as to hold the hub from cramping and also from digging into the wooden brackets. They are loose on the axle I vandarenotforcedto revolve with the wheel.

inner faces -of the brackets.

They span the slot 20 and slide freely on the They have a central bore '28 loosely 'fitting the axle.

The brackets 4 in a. wheelbarrow for `farm 'andgardenuse maybe made of two sections of plank about a scant twol inches in thickyfness, but maybe thicker or thinneras occa- -zsionyor the vjudgment'of the constructor may `determine,-depeuding upon the strength of ythe wood andalso upon the diameter ofthe springs. Said planks should be strlong Astraight-'gia-ined :wood and of sui'icient `l length toextend down below the bars 1 several' inches, thus to :allow theaxle 24 of the wheel a to be normally held considerablybelowthe level of the v forward extension of side'bars 1. Said 'bracketsare of a `general triangular' shape-and'thefspring socket 19 is 4formed byboring a Fp-inch -hole from the VAlower edge ofthe-bracket diagonal with the fplane 'of the-side bars to beyond the top of Y the side bar l, so that when the helical sspring 21 is inserted 'into saidsocket 19 it will loosely=iit and will be fully accommon 14 ofthe side bars by bolts 29 and 30, thedated therein.

1 About one-half of the wallI of the socket on the 'inner' side of each bracket-is cut away to form the slots 20 in which the axleends 24 operate. The brackets 4arevk fastened above their lower edges to the forward vextensions bolts 29 ybeing arranged in a line along the side bars and the bolts 30 being smaller and arranged in a transverse line so that they prevent the frontedge of the bracket from splitting off and also strengthen the front end of the` side bars.

The bracket brace 31 is framed into the the brace 3l from end to end thereof. tightly clamping the brackets against the brace.

When the brackets have thus been mounted and braced, the iioor board secured in place, the front boards 5 clamped thereon by the head 6 and stay rods 8 a-nd secured to the brackets 4 by the screws Z), the barrow may be turned upside down and the springs 21 inserted into the sockets 19. The journal boxes 22 are then laid on the ends of the springs with the follower pins 23 inserted inside the spring. The washers 2G are placed upon the axle ends 24 and said axle ends are inserted into the slots 20. Then an angle iron 34 that fits the acuteJ front lower angle of the brackets 4 is fastened in place on said brackets by screws 35.

To complete the wheelbarrow the legs 2i are properly secured in place and the ioor boards 36 are fastened in any suitable way as by screws or nails 37.

It is to be noted that by this construction the front end of the wheelbarrow iioor is raised to a level considerably above the level of the axle 24, so that the thrust of the operator upon the handles will be more nearly along the line of travel of the load.

The socket bars are su'li'ieiently deep to accommodate a helical spring which will at one and the Sametime support a heavy load without beingv fully compressed and will also readily yield to allow the wheel l'o pass 100 over small obstructions. The top of the slot 20 forms a stop 3S for the axle 24, so that the spring will not be too greatly conipressed by overloading.

The angle irons 34 retain the axle in place 105 and also' strengthen the bracket structure.

In practical operation the operator uses the handles the same as heretofore, but the bottom of the load is considerably above the level of the axle 24. The sockets are bored aslant rearwardly and upwardly from the lower edges of the wings and on a plane with their `faces the side bars when the wheelbarrow is at rest as shown in Figs. 1 and 4, so that when the handles are lifted, the axis of the springs will lbe nearly vertical. As the barrow istrundled forward, the 1no mentum of the load, not shown,- tends forwardly in a horizontal line, and when an obstruction of the wheel is encountered the wheel will be forced upward by the resolution of forces and willv rise over the obstacle, while the load will be but little, if any, deflected from its horizontal course. yAs a re sult of this the propulsion of the wheclbarrow is much less laborious than in any former construction.

The vertically moving axle 24 may be supported by various constructions and in Fig. 5 an anti-friction construction is shown 130 in which Ithe wheel hubj2l icarrijes'antifrid tion balls 40 in a raceway formed by the end of theA hub and 'by a cupi '4 1 which is screwed onto the end .of said hub. A felt "2- washer 42 is compressed by acap 43"against i `the cup 41 to close thek oriicebetween theT i ie cup 41 and the axle`24 which is supported by the antifriction balls 40. The cap 43- contacts with the washery 26, and lateral play of the wheel is thus prevented ;'gthe axle sirnply moving up and down in the ways 20 formed in the brackets. f

The floating axle 24 may or may not be supported by ball bearings.v In the form shown yin Fig. 5 an oil/chamber 44 inside the hub 27 surrounds the aXle 27 and communication therewith isprovided for by ari/oil,A

hole 45 closed by a dust-cap 46.

I claim: f y l. In a wheelbarrowl the combination with a frame, of a front wally 'at the front' of the frame, a head bar at the toplof the front wall, a foot bar under the frame,l bracketsconnected above their lower edges to the frame and engaged by the headbar and the front wall andclamping means. adapted to clamp the head bar upon the front wall and brackets and the foot bar against theframe.

2. The combination with a. wheelbarrowframe comprising side bars, a front board `and a front wheel, of plank sections forming brackets fastened above their bottom` edges to said side bars and by one ledge to y the front 'boardand providedk with bores to form sockets extendingfrom the lower edges of the bracket ymembers up, and having the inside walls of said bores slotted to accom- Copies of this patent may be obtained for my` hand at 4 porting theJ axle ends.

3.2In combination with a i wheelbarrow tened 'tesa-id side, bars and provided with slots to retain the axle; vand a wheel carryling said axle. f p 4. A wheelbarrow body, sidebars4 extend- Qing'in frontl of the body, a wheel between i. inodate the axle ends, helical springs in said o n bores, bearings carrying 4the springs kand mounted on the axle ends, vand-a wheel sup.;l

iframe having` `side bars and, forward exten? sions ofthe slde bars; bracket sectionsfas-A i the side bars, triangular bracing `bodies Se- ,A

" cured above their lower edges to ythe side t bars kand by their rear edges to the front 'of the barrow body, said bracing body being provided with sockets bored forward s1ant-..

ingly and upwardly from the bottomedgey ofthe bracing bodies2 andv also provided" i with openings extending from` the lower part of the` saidsockets throughthe inner faces of thefbracing bodies and forming waysfor a wheel axle below the side bars; p

.andcompression springs in the sockets. In testimony whereof, l have hereunto 'set Los Angeles, California, this A 18th`day OfSepteniber, 1917.

fWitness; y

. JAMES R. TowNsnND.

washington, nic.

H.-w. Mo'NTeoMnav.I

ive cents]u each,-byaddres'sing the Commissioner of Patents. A

efe- 

